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Douchebaggery in Online Business (FS013)

There are people who do business in ways that turn your stomach. They’re willing to do unethical things, take advantage of people, and sacrifice their audience on the altars of profit and short term gains.

In this episode we explore this kind of business and provide the counterpoint, complete with a mind-boggling quote from Walt Disney, some tough-love sentiment from John Gruber and advice from one of the original big bloggers to folks just starting out.

We also talk about how knowing who the “bad guy” is in your industry will give you more direction, purpose, and focus.

Here’s to the idea that we can all focus a little less on the tactics of making a buck and a little more on the art of providing real, human value.

There is an easy formula for doing it wrong: publish attention-getting bullshit and pull stunts to generate mindless traffic. The entire quote-unquote “pro blogging” industry — which exists as the sort of pimply teenage brother to the shirt-and-tie SEO industry — is predicated on the notion that blogging is a meaningful verb. It is not. The verb is writing. The format and medium are new, but the craft is ancient.”

Show Notes:

The Good Show | Radiolab — “there is no doubt that today’s plants and animals carry the genetic legacy of ancestors who fought fiercely to survive and reproduce. But in this hour, we wonder whether there might also be a logic behind sharing, niceness, kindness … or even, self-sacrifice. Is altruism an aberration, or just an elaborate guise for sneaky self-interest?”

Chris Johnson of Simplifilm — “sales is simply being intelligent enough to be in the right place at the right time.” If you haven’t yet, seriously, get into Fizzle and watch this interview. Sensational.

The Top 10 Mistakes in Online Business

Every week we talk with entrepreneurs. We talk about what’s working and what isn’t. We talk about successes and failures. We spend time with complete newbies, seasoned veterans, and everything in between.

One topic that comes up over and over again with both groups is mistakes made in starting businesses. Newbies love to learn about mistakes so they can avoid them. Veterans love to talk about what they wish they had known when starting out.

These conversations have been fascinating, so we compiled a list of the 10 mistakes we hear most often into a nifty lil' guide.

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